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Communications Solutions for a Pandemic

Coates Kokes is fortunate to have a number of causes as clients. It’s an area that has become a specialty of sorts for the agency in recent years, and it makes for rewarding work even if it is filled with the pressures inevitably involved when the environment or even lives are at stake. The State of Oregon’s Department of Human Services has recently tapped the agency to help in the fight against the H1N1 flu virus. One challenge in working with a pandemic is that the information is changing all the time based on input from national resources such as the CDC and the spread of the virus itself. Currently the state is facing a shortage of flu vaccines, but CK has just released a new television spot in the last week to remind people of all the things they can do on their own to keep from getting the flu and to keep from spreading it.

The tone of the spot is not an accident either. We intentionally employed a little levity to bring the message to life while staying within a boundary that is appropriate for such a potentially serious issue. The goal is to spur people into taking the appropriate action without further stirring the pot of anxiety that comes during a time when there is a shortage of the vaccine.

We concepted and produced the spot in just a matter of weeks to meet the State’s timeline. At the same time we produced an alternative spot that will encourage people to get their flu shots once the supply catches up to the demand. In the meantime we’re using print and television to build awareness quickly of what people can do behaviorally in the meantime. A social media strategy is getting underway shortly.